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Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society
Co veil, Jr. (1984. A field guide to the moths of eastern North America. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston. 496 pp.) places this tiger moth in genus Grammia. Dr. Norman Johnson, Department of Entomology, Ohio State University, presently is revising the taxonomy of Scelionid wasps. He recently informed me (pers. comm.) that most of the early type specimens of Telenomus are females but that the male genitalia possess important diagnostic features for determining species status. This wasp species in his opinion may be undescribed and no specific designation can be given at this time.
Austin P. Platt, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Maryland Baltimore County, 5401 Wilkens Avenue, Catonsville, Maryland 21228.
Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 39(1), 1985, 62-63
NOTES ON THE HABITAT AND FOODPLANT OF INCISALIA HENRICI
(LYCAENIDAE) AND PYGRUS CENTAUREAE (HESPERIIDAE)
IN MICHIGAN
The foodplant of Incisalia henrici (Grote and Robinson) in Michigan was unknown until 1981, when it was confirmed that maple-leaf viburnum, Viburnum acerifolium L. (Caprifoliaceae) is an acceptable foodplant. According to Tietz (1972, An index to the described life histories, early stages, and hosts of the Macrolepidoptera of the Continental United States and Canada, Allyn Mus. Entomol., Sarasota, FL) and Pyle (1981, The Audubon Society field guide to North American butterflies, A. Knopf, Inc., NY), viburnum is not listed as a known foodplant for J. henrici.
I first became acquainted with Henry's Elfin in 1953, when a series was collected in the Langston State Game Area, Montcalm County, on 15 and 23 May. Since that time, /. henrici has been collected and observed in the same area in close proximity to second growth aspen (Populus grandidentata Michx. and tremuloides Michx.), white oak (Quer-cus alba L.) and red maple (Acer rubrum L.), with scattered white pine (Pinus strobus L.) on sandy soil. Most of the adults have been taken (before full leaf development along sandy trails and narrow wooded sunny openings) while perched on small shrubs, on dried leaves and twigs or on bare sand. At this site, adults could easily be overlooked because of their small size and dark color. Only once was an adult observed nectaring on choke cherry, Prunus virginiana L., along the trail. During this period, the elfin gave no clues to the preferred larval foodplant despite the presence in the Game Area of Prunus sp. and Vaccinium sp., two previously recorded foodplants for J. henrici.
It wasn't until 3 June 1979, that Harry King and I discovered several Lycaenidae larvae feeding on the flower cymes of V. acerifolium in a similar aspen-oak woods, located one and one-half miles north of the original site. The greenish slug-shaped larvae, with pale lateral stripes, appeared to resemble J. henrici, based on the brief description in Klots (1951, Field guide to the butterflies, Houghton Mifflin Co., MA). The larvae were removed and kept in captivity until the following spring when (to my disappointment) Celastrina ladon (Cramer) emerged. Then during 1980-1982, I examined flower cymes of V. acerifolium at both Game Area locations and found numerous larvae of various instars representing C. ladon and what was believed to be /. henrici. Subsequent emergence of I. henrici in 1981 and 1983 from over-wintering pupae finally confirmed the use of Viburnum acerifolium as the preferred foodplant in this location.
In 1974, Larry West, noted nature photographer, observed a female Pygrus centaureae wyandot (Edwards) oviposit an egg on the underside of a wild strawberry leaf, Fragaria virginiana Duchesne, on 22 May in Otsego County, Michigan. Since 1958, the grizzled skipper has been collected from 15 May to 3 June on a pine barren in an area of short
Volume 39, Number 1
63
grasses and sedges (including Danthonia spicata (L.) Beauv. and Car ex pennsylvanica Lam.) on sandy soil. This skipper is not easily seen on the wing but can be collected with some frequency while nectaring on wild strawberry scattered in large patches throughout the open areas. Butterfly species that occur in the same area during the approximate flight period of P. centaureae include Euchloe olympia (Edwards), Oeneis chryxus stri-gulosa McDunnough and Hesperia metea Scudder.
With wild strawberry as the possible foodplant for P. centaureae, I searched strawberry patches during the summer from 1975 to 1979 for signs of larvae. Several mid-instar larvae were finally found in leaf nests on wild strawberry; the nests varied from a single folded leaf to three leaves held together with silk. The larval nests were constructed so the larvae rested on the upper leaf surface. Frequently, the heat of the day would curl many leaves, or a spider would curl a leaf for its egg mass, making it frustrating and difficult to find P. centaureae larval nests. The larvae were removed to captivity and finished feeding by late summer and over-wintered in the pupa stage. In reviewing the literature, this is the first record of wild strawberry as the foodplant for P. centaureae wyandot; other authors (Pyle, ibid.; and Ferris & Brown, 1981, Butterflies of the Rocky Mountain states, Univ. Oklahoma Press, OK) have cited Rubus and Potentilla (Rosaceae) as foodplants for P. centaureae in other parts of its range.
Perhaps both species will prove to be more widespread in the Great Lakes region when collectors are aware of their habitat and foodplant requirements. I wish to express my deep appreciation to Harry King and Larry West for sharing their field observations with me.
Mogens C. Nielsen, Adjunct Curator, Department of Entomology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824.
Date of Issue (Vol. 39, No. 1): 16 October 1985